Surface-dressing machine.



APPLICATION FILED DEC. 3| 1911- G. C. CLARK.

SURFACE DRESSING MACHINE.

Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET i.

el ttozmuj G. C. CLARK.

vSURFACE DRESSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 3. IQI- 1,285,041 ,Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

2 SHEETS--SHEET 2.

Itllfr GEORGE c. CLARK, 0F EVERETT, WASHINGTON.

SURFACE-DRESSING MACHINE.

Application led December 3, 1917.

To all Iwhom t may concern.'

Be itknown that I, GEORGE C. CLARK, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Everett, in the county ofSnohomish and State'of Washington, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Surface-Dressing Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to machines yfor use in dressing off surfaces whichare irregular and uneven to produce surfaces of smooth contour and moreparticularly for dressing off surfaces composed of wood. It employs acutting member, which is preferably in the form of a rotating cutterhead, which is mounted upon a combination of carriages which are capableof traveling upon rails secured upon the surfaces which are to bedressed, suitable means being provided for adjusting the cutter head sothat it may successively dress different sections of the surfaces bymoving the device along the rails.

One of the principal uses of my invention in the dressing of the plankreceiving surfaces of the ribs of wooden vessels, so as to secure a trueand smooth outline for the reception of the planks. It is, however,evident that my device may be employed for dressing other surfaces thanthese.

My invention is capable of dressing surfaces which are plane or curved,and which occupy any angular position, whether horizontal, vertical, orany angle between.

rIhe particular features of my invention which are novel and upon whichI ask for patent, will be hereinafter set forth and then particularlypointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention embodied in aformof construction which I now prefer to use. This construction is,however, given only as illustrative ofthe principles embodied in myinvention and not with any intention of suggesting that the same is theonly construction which may be employed.

Figure l is a side elevation of my device shown in the position which itwouldu occupy in dressing the under sides of beams.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 19, 191s. Serial No; 265,253.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the device shown in similar position.

Fig. 3 is a detail showing in end view and cross section on the line A Aof Fig. l, mechanism employed for raising and lowering the transversebars.

Fig. d is a. section showing themanner of adjusting and locking theeccentrics used in adjusting the angular position or level of the cutterhead mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a face view of a cutter head showing a formk of constructionwhich I have found excellently adapted for use in dressing ofi edges ofwooden beams.l

My invention has been particularly designed for the dressing off of thesurfaces of ribs or frames of wooden ships preparatory to putting theplanks thereon and I will so describe it, although it will be understoodthat it may be similarly used for dressing any other kind of surfaceswherein the conditions are at all analogous.

In the construction of wood vessels the timbers for forming the ribs andframes are cut as near as may be to the proper shape and thereafterbeing Joined together, are put 1n place on the ways. In doing this it isvimpossible to get an absolutely true surface of the outer and inneredges of these frames` so that-when the planks are placed thereon theywill have true bearing upon all of these frames, p

It has heretofore been customary to dress these frames by hand so as toget a true contour of the plank receiving surfaces thereon. This hasproven a slow and eX- pensive operation and my machine is designed foruse fordoing this dressing off of the frames, which process is usuallyre ferred to as dubbing and this dubbing operation requires men who areexpert in the use of an adz, and it is difficult to find men who can dothis work satisfactorily.

The foundation for the operation of my machine consists of a trackwayformed by two sets of rails 1 which are securedy to thesurface to bedubbed off or dressed. These rails may be, and I prefer to have them,ordinary T-head rails, such for instance, as

are used for nialting tracks upon which to run cars. rll'he essentialfeatures of these rails is that they may he capable of being quickly andeasil.T secured to the surfaces to he dressed and that they hare a headsuit-able for the reception and retention of the carriage wheels of mydevice. rlfhey should preferably, he of a size as will perinit theirbendingl enough to ht the curved contour of the ships surface.

These rails niay he conveniently secured tothe wood frames of a vesselby, ineans of lag screws l which enter the loody of the franies andwhich employ a har or washer l1 which orerlaps the hase flange of therail. Any suitable .ineans for securing these in place may, however, heemployed.

l prefer a carriage for each of these rails. Each carriage has two pairsof wheels which are provided with a. flange at each side so spaced as tosnugly lit over the side face of the head of the rail. rllhe axis ofthese wheels is thus perpendicular to the surface being operated upon.As shown in Figs. l and 2, each of these wheels niounted upon a. pivot2O which is secured in a nieniher 21 which latter is of a general Lshape, the pin 2O being` lined in one arin of the l. and the other arinof the l. having ears formed therein to form part of a pivot or hingejoint. rhese. ears 22 are made to intel-mesh, as is clearly shown inFig. 2, and a holt Q3, extending through the saine, clainps thesetogether and with theni the upper end of a linlr or har 3 which projectsaway from the surface being dressed.

These wheel-supporting` nienihers are held toward each other hy a holt24 so as to cause the wheels to closely engage the head of the rail. Byslacking `off on this holt the two inenihcrs 2l may be separated in suchinanner as to separate the wheels 2 and thus perniit the carriage to heeither placed upon or he rei'iioved frein the rail.

Each carriage duplicates this device and the carriage parts representedin each case hy a pair of wheels and their connected parts, areconnected to forni the complete carriage; hy ine-ans of a spacer rod 25,which rod is herein shown as passingI through the inner end of the slotwhich is formed in the linl; and has clainpingy nuts 2G wherehy the twolinlis and their attached carriage parts, inay he rifejidly secured hythe rod The cutting nieuiher is represented as a head e.; which head,for the purpose herein illustrated. namely, the 4dubbing olf of the ribsof a ship. is inade as a face cutter. it consists of a disk d() which ismounted upon a shaft il, the axis of said shaft being placedperpendicular to the surfaces being dressed, and is provided withcutting hits e2 and. e3, the two kinds of hits being' niade with sli@l Ldifferent cutting edges so as to secure better cutting action. Theparticular construction 'of the cutter head is however, not a part ofniy present invention and any other type 'whi ch is found to worksatisfactorily may he employed.

The shaft of the cutter head is herein shown as a continuation of theshaft of an electric inotor which contained within the case di. Theinotor is supplied with current through a wire cable which extends toany suitable point from which current inay he obtained. e

The inotor and the cutter head niechanisin operated thereby are providedwith means for supporting7 adjusting and moving theni upon the tuotransversely extending hars 5. which hars are in turn supported hy thearins 3 which extend outwardly from the carriages. These bars 5 areherein shown as hcing of rectangular cross section. rlhey slide withinblocks which in turn are inounted upon the arins 3 in such manner thatthey inay he adjusted lengthwise of the latter. As herein shown, theblocks 50 are each provided' with a flange or rih 5l which lits into theslot 30 in the arin 3. This pre-vents turninlhT relative to the arni 3.The block is se cured in adjusted position on said arni by means of aholt 52 which screws into the liange 5l and beneath which is placed aplate which acts as a washer, hoth for this holt and for the rod 6 bywhich an adjustment in elevation of the blocks 50 may he ecu-red.

@ne side har of the arins 3 is herein shown as provided with teeth 31and the rod G which passes through said slots is provided at each endwith a pinion which ineshes with the rack teeth 3l. By turning` the rodG, which niay he done hy applying thereto a crank 61, the rod 6 will heraised or lowered and will, carry with it the hloclis 50, and thereforethe transverse hars 5. The rod or shaft G is provided with bearings inthe blocks 50.

this means the saine ends of both hars :3 are adjusted alike and yet theadjustment of' the opposite ends of the hars 5 inay he different.

ri`he fraine of the niotor dat should he of such construction that itprovides uieans for inoveinent of the inotor, with its attached cutterhead niechanisnn lengthwise of the hars and also it should provide anadj ustiuent which will enable changing the axis of the cutter headrelative to the plane of the surface being dressed and relative to theplane of the hars The construction herein illustrated hy which theseresults are secured is as follows:

rTwo plates or hars 7 and 70 are secured to @ether with the greater partthereof spaced ap rt sufiiciently to place one at each side of the harThey therefore act as retaining and guide membersfor the bear 5. Betweenthe upper ends of the separated portions of the bars 7 and 70, areplaced eccentrics 71, which eccentrics have shafts extending through thetwo bars 7 and 70, andthe outer end thereof secured to members by whichthey may be adjusted and held in such positions as will enable them tobe employed for raising and lowering the fram@ relative to the bars 5. Iprefer to eihploy with each motor three of these members, two being atone side of the motor and engaging the same bar 5 and the other beingcentrally placed atI the opposite side. In this manner a three-pointsupport is secured and the motor and cutter head mechanism is adjustable universally, so far as the position of its axis goes, within acertain range of movement.

The two eccentrics which are at the same side of the deyice, have arms72 secured to 'their shafts and these arms are connected together, as bya link 73, which linkis provided with a slot 74 at one or both ends, andthis link is secured to the crank arm 72 by bolts 75. By means of theslot 74, the two arms 72 at the same side of the machine, may beadjusted independently of each other to thereby shift the axis of themotor in one direction and thereafter the adjustment up and down wouldbe alike for both.

The single device which is at the opposite side of the machine, and infact, one of the devices upon the side where two are employed, arepreferably provided with a locking device, such as is illustrated inFig. 4f. The eccentric 7l has secured thereto a stem 7 6 which isaxially bored to receive a clamping bolt 8. The sleeve 7 6 has securedthereto a hand wheel 77, by which it may be turned and thereby turn theeccentric 7l. The bolt 8 at its outer end has a small hand wheel S0 bywhich it may be turned, or the wheel 80 mcy constitute a nut which turnsupon the bolt 8. Bythis means the eccentric may be readily adjusted andthen, when this adjustment is secured, clamping down by means of thebolt 8 will hold the eccentric in adjusted position, thus making theadjustment permanent. One clamping device of this sort, it is preferred,shall be provided for each side of the machine.

Secured upon the frame of the motor is a nut 9, through which passes athreaded rod 90, which rod is mounted to turn with reference to one ofthe arms 3 of one carriage but is held against longitudinal movement. Atthe other carriage it is provided with a journal bearing, but not athrust bearing. The nut 9 is mounted so as to be fixed in positionrelative to movements of the carriage in a direction parallel with thelength of they bars but so that it may have a limited amount of movementtransversely of these bars. This may be securedby giving the nut a ribof a width to lit between the bars 7 and 70 and by providing a plate 91,which is secured to one of the bars, as 7, and is provided with a flange92 which engages the outer face of the nut and thus prevents movementlengthwise of the bar 5.

A crank arm,'as 93, may be secured to the end of bar 9, and by rotationof the same, the motor and its carriage maybe moved along the bars 5 asdesired.

In preparing to use this machine the first step is the placing of therails l upon which the apparatus is supported and operated. These railsare preferably of such weight that they may be bent so yas to conform tothe outer contour of the hull of the vessel, or whatever surface is tobe dressed. The finished contour of the surface is determined largely bythe positionof the rails l. These rails are preferably maintained inparallel relation, although this feature is not strictly necessary. Thedistance between these rails is approximately some multiple of the widthof the surface dressed by the cutter head at one movement Then the railsare properly placed, the carriages are placed thereon and the bars 5with the motor and cutter head, also putf in place. The whole device maybe conveniently maintained in connected form and both carriages be putin place at once. The position of the bars 5 relative to the supportingarms 3 is adjusted so as to bring the cutter head 4 into position so asto en gage, and remove as much as may be desired ofthe ribs, or whateverother surface is to be dressed.

The line adjustment of the cut-ter head both as to elevation and as toangular' position, may be secured through the use of the eccentrics 7l.The connection between the transverse bars 5 and the arms 3 is securedby turning the shaft 6, until the proper position is obtained and thenclamping the same in place by tightening the clamping nut 62. Then theparts of all have been properly adjusted with the cutter close up to oneof the rails l, the cutter is started and the entire machine is causedto travel along the rails l, the cutter meanwhile dressing off thesurface of the ribs as may be necessary.

As the contour of this surface is determined by the contour given therails, and Yas t-he rails will have a smooth and regular contourirrespective of the surfaces of the ribs, these surfaces of the ribswill be dressed to a smooth and regular contour. After the machine hasreached one end of the rails the shaft 90 is turned enough to shift themotor and the cutter head adapted thereto so as to dress a strip whichjust meets or overlaps the one just dressed, and the device is run inthe return direction along the rails.

resale/ii Nfn this way the device dresses a series of narrow stripsuntil the space between the rails has been covered. rlhe machine is thentaken off the rails and the rails shifted toV operate upon a new belt. Y

The diameter of the cutter head 4 is preferably made that of the widthof the narrower boards used for the planlring. Where the contour of theribs is rounded, the angular position of the cutting mechanism may beadjusted to correspond, and the cutter head will cut a series of planesurfaces, each at an angle with the others and of a width to eachreceive a single planlr. In consequence, the planks are given a truefiat seating upon the ribs. Y

My device may be applied to dressing horizontal surfaces, whether frombelow or from above and also vertical surfaces, or

surfaces placed at any angle between. It may, therefore, be employed forrapidly dressing or dubbing off outer and inner surfaces of the ribs ofvesselsto receive the planlring. it this work the result secured is moreeven and true than can be obtained by hand methods, and also is muchmore rapid.

l have described this machine as used for dubbing off the ribs of woodenships. lt is evident that it may be applied for dressing floors or anyother lrindV of a surface to which it is possible to secure rails forguide purposes. T he trueness of the finished surface is not dependentupon the original surface which is being treated, but upon the truenessin direction of the rails which are secured thereon and which may beblocked out, or held away from thel surface at any point, as may benecessary. What l claim as my invention is:

1. ln a surface dressing machine, in combination, traclrway rails havinglaterally enlarged heads and adapted to be secured to the surfaces to bedressed, carriages adapted to be secured upon said rails and havingopposed double flanged wheels embracing the railk heads from oppositesides and means for adjusting the opposed wheels toward and from eachother to thereby engage and r disengagethe wheels with the rails.

ln a surface dressing machine, in combination, two lines of railsvadapted to be secured in parallel relation upon the surface to bedressed, two carriages adapted each to run upon its line of rails andeach having pair yof arms projecting away from the surface to bedressed, a pair of transverse bars extending between like arms ofopposite carriages, means for securing said '5U bars to said arms foradjustment lengthwise of the supporting` arms, and a motor drivencutter-head carried by said bars. y

3. ln a surface dressing machine, in combination, two lines of railsadapted to be se cured in parallel relation upon the surface to bedressed, two carriages adapted each to run upon its line of rails andeach having a pair of supporting arms separated lengthwise of the railsand projecting away from the surface to be dressed, a pair of transverse bars extending between like arms of opposite carriages, a rack andpinion adjusting connection between said transverse bars and thesupporting arms, and a motor driven cutter-head carried by said bars.

Il. ln a device for dubbing oif surfaces, in combination, track rails,carriages secured to travel on said rails, transverse connecting bars,supporting connection from said bars to the carriages containing meansfor adjustment of the connecting bars toward and from the surface beingdressed, a. motor driven cutter-head mechanism mounted to move alongsaid transverse bars and a threaded shaft secured to turn in saidsupporting connection and in parallel relation with said transversebars, and a nut engaging said shaft and secured upon the cutter-headmechanism.

ln a surface dressing machine, in combination, two lines of railsadapted to be secured in parallel relation upon the face of the surfaceto be dressed, said rails having an enlarged or flanged head, a carriagefor each rail having two pairs of double flanged wheels spanning theheads of the rails from opposite sides thereof, said wheels mountedso'as to be capable 0f being spread apart to permit removal of thecarriage from the rails, a cutter head and actuating means therefor andmeans for supporting said cutter head from the carriages to dress thesun face between the rails.

6. ln a surface dressing machine, in combination, two lines of railsadapted to be secured in parallel relation to the face of the surface tobe dressed, said rails having an enlarged or flanged head, a carriagefor each line of rails having two pairs of double hanged wheels spanningthe heads of the rails from opposite sides thereof, said wheels at oneside of the rail head being mounted on arms having a pivotal connectionwith the carriage, clamping means for holding said wheel-carrying partstogether, a cutterhead and its actuating means, and means for supportingsaid head from said carriages to dress the surface between the rails.

7. ln a surface dressing machine in combination, two carriages adaptedto run upon separated guide rails, two guide bars connecting saidcarriages and maintained in separated and parallel relationship, acutterhead and its actuating means having supporting and guidingengagement with said guide bars, the supporting and guiding meanscontaining two members engaging one guide bar and one engaging the otherand means for adjusting said supporting means independently of eachother.

8. In a surface dressing machine, in combination7 two lines of railsadapted to be secured to the surface to be dressed and in parallelrelation, a carriage mounted to travel along each line of rails, twoguide bars, means for supporting said guide bars from said carriages inseparated and parallel relation with each other and with the surface t0be dressed, means for independent Copies of this patent may be obtainedfor ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner adjustment of oppositeends of said guide bars toward and from the rails, a cutterhead carriagemounted to move along said guide bars, a cutter-head and actuating meanstherefor carried by said carriage, and means for adjusting the axialposition of said cutter head.

Signed at Seattle, lVashington, this 26th day of November, 1917.

GEO. C. CLARK.

of Patents,

Washington, ID. C.

